Last February, NPR's Planet Money examined a unique strategy by Ecuador's government to preserve its Yasuni National Park, an isolated and wild place reached best by hours in a canoe. This is one of those places with amazing biodiversity, with more tree species in a hectare than most more northern countries have within their borders ( Read more... )

Over two years ago, I read Thomas Geoghegan's Were You Born on the Wrong Continent?, a somewhat rambling collection of observations about the differences between the United States and Germany. In it, he noted that, quite unlike the American experience, German broadsheet newspapers were thriving. Yes, in a country that also has the intertubes, ( Read more... )

I got another rude interruption to my podcast listening the other day, this time from The Skeptics Guide to the Universe, a podcast I've shoved in my ears now for over four years. The interruption came this time from two of the skeptics themselves schlepping wares for an online audio book purveyor. ( I'll cut the gory details of this particular campaign. )

I went to lunch with The Wife the other day. We're both (kinda) still on vacation, and decided to burn a gift card to one of those national eatery chains. Food was good, but one thing nearly ruined the experience: the menu. It was a large spiral-bound number with laminated pages, but only two-thirds or so of those pages described the eating ( Read more... )

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A bit from the very funny George Hrab. His Geologic Podcast is a worthy listen.

I case you haven't noticed, I've been tearing along in the past few months on a rant against excessive advertising and the obvious effects it has been having on our nation's media. (Click on my Culture of Whores tag for a primer.) Things just reached a tipping point for me on the podcast front, so it's time to unveil my next cunning plan.

( Behold! The Cunning Plan in all its glory! )

Here's a video. You've probably seen it already.

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I tripped across it some time ago and dismissed it as, well, wrong. When you base your criticisms on elements that are factually inaccurate, you fail. It's as simple as that. Sadly, last night I caught up a bit with my podcast list and heard kmo chatting with Jim Kunstler about the current ( Read more... )

Remember the recent drama I pointed out from NPR? Well, yesterday I got an email:

Thank you for contacting NPR.

We are sorry you have experienced an error. We have forwarded your email to the appropriate individuals who will look into this. Thank you for your patience. . . .
I just checked, and the "Tax Me, Please" Planet Money episode has been ( Read more... )

Okay, flisties, time once again to review the audio podcast offerings being sucked out of the intertubes. I did this a few years ago and got some good recommendations. In interwebs time, though, a few years ago equals a few decades. I feel I've gotten horribly out of date ( Read more... )

Dear Mr. Davidson,

Let me congratulate you for your role in producing the best financial news for laypeople, I think, available on the podcasting web. I've been listening to your Planet Money podcast now since pretty much its inception. Your award-winning This American Life collaboration "The Giant Pool of Money" explained more of the current ( Read more... )